Press Releases

November 30, 2012 - Valve today revealed the third set of games and first set of Software titles to advance through Steam Greenlight and be offered worldwide distribution via the popular platform for games and software.

The latest collection of games and first set of Software titles to advance through Greenlight were selected for having either the highest number of positive votes or on an incredible upward trajectory since being added to Greenlight.

With these titles, 13 games and six Software titles (see full list below), a total of 50 titles have advanced through Steam Greenlight and been offered Steam distribution agreements since Greenlight launched in August.

"In just three months, the community has helped us identify 50 new titles for us to offer via Steam," said Alden Kroll of Valve. "With the help of Greenlight, the indie games market share of games sold on Steam has increased by 50 percent for a third consecutive year. That's a stat we are proud of, but one we also hope to increase as we learn more about Greenlight and continue to refine it in the new year."

Steam Greenlight is a new platform feature that enlists the community's help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam. Launched on August 30, Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince Community members that their game should be released on Steam.

Nov 6, 2012--Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the launch of a limited access beta for its new Steam for Linux client.

The Steam for Linux Beta client supports the free-to-play game Team Fortress 2. Approximately two dozen additional Steam titles are now also available for play on Linux systems. Additionally, the Steam for Linux Beta client includes Big Picture, the mode of Steam designed for use with a TV and controller, also currently in beta.

This is a huge milestone in the development of PC gaming, according to Gabe Newell, Valve President and co-founder. Steam users have been asking us to support gaming on Linux. Were happy to bring rich forms of entertainment and our community of users to this open, customer-friendly platform.

The Steam for Linux Beta client is currently available for installation on Ubuntu 12.04. An overwhelming majority of beta applicants have reported theyre running the Ubuntu distro of Linux, according to Frank Crockett, a member of the Steam for Linux team, We intend to support additional popular distros in the future; well prioritize development for these based on user feedback.

Within its first week, Valve received over 60,000 responses to its request for participants in the Steam for Linux Beta. The first round of beta participants has been selected from this group of respondents.

The Steam for Linux Beta client will become available to a widening group of users over the course of the beta. Subsequent participants will be chosen among survey respondents, and once the team has seen a solid level of stability and performance across a variety of systems, the Steam for Linux client will become available to all users of Steam.

Steam is a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC and Mac games with over 50 million accounts around the world and over 2,000 titles offered.

More details regarding Steam for Linux, including community discussion, beta participants feedback, official announcements and syndicated news can all be tracked on the new Steam for Linux Community Hub at http://steamcommunity.com/linux.

October 15, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the second set of titles proceeding to worldwide distribution opportunities through Steam Greenlight.

This second wave of titles was originally targeted to include at least 10 titles. Given the number and quality of games submitted, and the ship date of many of the top-ranking titles, the decision was made to increase the size of this group. (See full list below.)

Steam Greenlight is a new platform feature that enlists the community's help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam. Launched on August 30, Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince Community members that their game should be released on Steam.

Like the first set, this second set of titles to launch via Greenlight will be released independently in the months ahead (as they are varying stages of completion). For more information, please visit steamcommunity.com/greenlight/

September 11, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first set of titles submitted through Steam Greenlight have earned critical mass and been picked up for worldwide distribution.

The first set of titles to launch via Greenlight will be released independently in the months ahead (as they are varying stages of completion).

The Steam community rallied around these titles and made them the clear choice for the first set of titles to launch out of Greenlight, said Anna Sweet of Valve. Since launch, hundreds of titles have been submitted, with more coming in every day. We expect to be announcing more titles coming to Steam via Greenlight soon.

Steam Greenlight is a new platform feature that enlists the communitys help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam. Launched on August 30, Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince Community members that their game should be released on Steam.

New mode of Steam designed for display on televisions; works with game controllersSeptember 10th, 2012 -- Valve announces a major update to the Steam gaming platform called Big Picture.

Steam's new Big Picture mode lets gamers access all of their favorite Steam games on a television. With the press of a button, Steam displays a new full-screen user interface optimized for readability and interaction on TV. Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional game controller, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input.

Steam gamers can experience Big Picture by connecting their PC or Mac to a TV, typically with a single HDMI cable. Access to the complete Steam store is included, as is the Steam Community. In addition to their complete library of Steam games, each user's cloud files, Steam Workshop content, account information and preferences will be accessible automatically in the new mode.

"Sega's roots are in living-room gaming." said John Clark, Vice President of Digital Distribution at Sega. "For the first time since the advent of PC games decades ago, gamers are finally going to have access to the kind of entertainment experience we've always wished they could have with our PC titles - one that's incredibly social, comfortable, and accessible. We're excited about the opportunity, and Big Picture has inspired us to bring even more of our titles to Steam in the future."

"There is nothing more satisfying than slaying thousands of orcs on your big screen. And many of the most die-hard players of Orcs Must Die 2 have always preferred playing with a game controller. Steam Big Picture Mode finally marries these two and delivers a true living room entertainment experience to players."

"We're pleased that gamers on Steam will now be able to immerse themselves in our entertainment experiences in the comfort of their living room on large screen TVs," said Steve Glickstein of Take-Two Interactive Software. "From action and adventure to sports and sims, our titles deliver big fun on big screens."

"PC gaming continues to be the leading edge of entertainment, whether it's social gaming, MMOs, graphics hardware, free-to-play, or competitive gaming," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "With Big Picture for Steam, we are trying to do our part to give customers and developers what they want - their games, everywhere, optimized for the environment in which they are playing."

Big Picture also includes a new web browser designed for televisions and game controllers. It is accessible from anywhere within the Big Picture UI, and even while playing Steam games on a TV. It supports Big Picture's new method of typing with a game controller, which is useful for entering URLs, filling out forms, chatting, and other functions.

September 4, 2012--Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the public launch of the new Steam Community with features focused on finding and sharing the best community content.

August 30, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the launch of Steam Greenlight, a new platform feature that enlists the community's help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam.

Announced earlier this summer, Steam Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince the Community that the game should be released on Steam. Greenlight piggybacks on Steam Workshop's flexible system that organizes content and lets customers rate and leave feedback.

"We've been working on this feature for the last few months with the input from a group of indie partners, and the response has been extremely positive," said Valve's Anna Sweet. "With the additional help of beta testers, we are able to launch with a solid line-up of titles for the community to start viewing and rating. And, as we've done with all Steam features, we intend to continually grow and modify Greenlight as more and more developers and community members have a chance to get involved."

As well as serving as a clearing house for game submissions, Greenlight provides an incredible level of added exposure for new games and an opportunity to connect directly with potential customers and fans.

August 13, 2012--Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced a major update coming to the Steam Community.

This update focuses on highlighting and enabling the best user-created screenshots, videos, and Workshop items for games across Steam while making it easier for the community to discuss their favorite games.

Every game on Steam will have a new Game Hub. The Hubs highlight the most popular user-created screenshots, videos, and Steam Workshop items as rated by the community and combine it with related news, discussions, and comments for the game all in one central location.

"The New Steam Community is all about showing off the best content that gamers have created," says Emily Kent at Valve. "With over 89 million screenshots, videos, Steam Workshop maps, levels, mods, and items, plus news articles and product updates, the community has created an unbelievable wealth of content around their favorite games."

Steam is a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC and Mac games and digital entertainment, with over 40 million accounts around the world and over 2000 titles offered.

Aug 8, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first set of Software titles are heading to Steam, marking a major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games.

The Software titles coming to Steam range from creativity to productivity. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you.

More Software titles will be added in an ongoing fashion following the September 5th launch, and developers will be welcome to submit Software titles via Steam Greenlight.

"The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games," said Mark Richardson at Valve. "They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests."